SHAH ALAM: Comedian Shahmira Muhamad, better known as Shuib, was charged in the Sessions Court with six counts of failing to pay service tax and penalties totalling RM1.6 million.
Shuib was charged in his capacity as co-director of Bubblebee Sdn Bhd, a beverage company.
Bubblebee and another of the company's co-directors Koh Choon Guan, were also charged for the same offences.
Shuib and Koh, who also represented Bubbleebee, pleaded not guilty before judge Rasyihah Ghazali.
According to the charges, they are accused of failing to pay service tax worth RM1,191,153.78 and penalties of RM454,000 for the period from Jan 1 to Dec 31 last year.
The charges were framed under Section 26(8) of the Service Tax Act which was read together with Section 78 of the same act.
If found guilty, they could be jailed for up to three years and fined up to RM50,000, or both for each charge.
They would also be required to pay a penalty amounting to RM453,969.42 to the Customs director-general, under Section 26(10) and Section 69(1) of the Service Tax Act.
Prosecution was handled by Customs Department prosecuting officers Wan Abdul Rahim Wan Mahamood and Nur Amalina Ahmad Nazeri, while all the defendants were represented by Muhammad Firdaus Shaik Alauddin.
During proceedings, the prosecution a bail of RM2,500 for each charge the defendants faced, citing the high unpaid tax amount.
Firdaus argued that his clients had been cooperative with the authorities and that there was no pressing reason for the court to impose bail on his clients.
Rasyihah set bail at RM4,000 for Shuib and Koh and set Dec 18 for the mention.
Last Monday, Bubblebee, Shuib, and Koh were fined RM17,500 by the Magistrate's Court after pleading guilty to seven charges, including failing to pay overdue contributions to the Social Security Organisation (Perkeso) last year.